


for him

by Falling_Rhayne



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adam (Voltron) Lives, Adam is Keith's favorite brother, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Band Fic, Established Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Fluff, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Keith & Shiro (Voltron) are Half-Siblings, Let Pidge say fuck, M/M, Married Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Mutual Pining, No Angst, Nonbinary Pidge | Katie Holt, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romantic Fluff, Slow Burn, Social Media AU, Youtuber AU, band au, broganes, good vibes only, guys i promise this fic is happy, why? because fuck canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:28:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23613793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Falling_Rhayne/pseuds/Falling_Rhayne
Summary: Their videos were so different.Lance was a film major. He liked being extra with his videos, playing with angles and experimenting with transitions. It was fulfilling, watching a fun concept in his head transform into something tangible, something that their viewers enjoyed. Their videos had production value, and he was proud of them.Red's videos were much simpler. There was no editing, no fancy transitions. Just him singing with his guitar, the camera angled to only show his chest and arms, his jaw barely peaking through the top screen. His videos were probably just shot on some shitty webcam.Lance loved them anyway.
Relationships: Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 34





	for him

**Author's Note:**

> So. I _finally_ did it. I finally got rid of Shades of Purple. Finally let go of my OG Klance fic and yeeted it out into the orphan_account void. May that trashfire rest in peace. I mean, it's not dead. It's still out there. So if y'all wanna go read that one (it's uncompleted tho) feel free to look for it.
> 
> But if y'all wanna read something with the same concept, but a lot less angst and a lot more fluff, then you've come to the right place. This is basically the same as SOP, but with a more light-hearted feel, and additional S8 cast. I've changed up things I wanted to change for years, and finally allowed myself to have fun with this AU.
> 
> Don't get me wrong I still wanna write angst and drama, but the angst in SOP was largely influenced by a friend who I no longer associate with. She was a terrible person and did a lot of shitty things. I honestly still can't go through the OG SOP without thinking of her, and it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Hopefully this newer version would cleanse me that taste and help me move forward too. ☺️
> 
> Okay, this note has gone on too long. Thank you for reading through it, and for sticking with my stuff. Y'all readers are the best.

_ "Alright guys, that was our take on the song 'Somewhere Only We Know' by Keane. I know it's sort of old, but it's one of my favorite songs. Took me a while but I finally convinced Hunk and Pidge here to do a cover." _

_ "Convinced? More like begged." _

_ "Alright, alright. If you guys liked our cover, give us a like and drop a comment. We make sure to read every one, and maybe even comment on the ones we like. And if you like to see more of me-" _

_ "Ugh." _

_ "Fiiine. If you wanna see more of us, hit that subscribe button! We also have side channels if you like that kinda stuff. I'mma put the links down in the description for you guys. Thanks so much for all the support you've given us so far. We'll see you in our next video!" _

* * *

"Do you  _ have _ to flirt with the viewers?" Pidge Holt groaned, leaning against a beanbag on the floor, laptop balanced on their thighs and headphones over their ears. They had a video editing program running, the preview screen paused at a shot of a brown-haired boy winking at the camera. "Do you know how awkward it is to edit this shit with your face looking like  _ that _ ?"

"Hey, it's what the public wants." Lance McClain grumbled from his position sprawled on the couch, bare feet dangling over the arm rests, fingers absent-mindedly plucking the bass guitar on his chest. "Besides, no one's complaining. Well, maybe except you, but you don't really count."

"Go fuck yourself, Lance."

"Aww, love ya too, Pidgey!"

Lance squawked, narrowly avoiding a throw pillow aimed for his head. "Hey, watch it! You could've hit my baby!" He pouted, cradling his bass guitar close. "You okay, baby? Did the mean green gremlin hurt you?"

Pidge rolled their eyes.

"Can't believe people actually think we're serious youtubers." Hunk Garrett sighed, walking over from their open kitchen, a tray of muffins in his hands. "We'd lose subscribers if they knew what we're like in real life."

"It's why Matt isn't subscribed to us. Said his brain couldn't handle that much suspension of disbelief." Pidge snorted, eyes landing on the muffin tray. "Are those for the new video?"

"Yeap! Poppy seed muffins!" Hunk smiled widely, placing the tray on the coffee table between them. "These ones came out a little burnt, though. I've got another batch in the oven for the close-ups, so you can eat these."

"Nice!" Pidge grinned, reaching out to grab a muffin. "I'm gonna send Matt a pic. He hates it when you cook shit he can't eat."

"Matt's paying $20 for half a dozen of the pretty muffins!" Pidge announced, swiping another muffin.

"Why are you making him pay? I can give them for free!" Hunk frowned, grabbing a muffin for himself.

"Oh no, the money's for me." Pidge finished off their muffin, pulling their laptop back on to their thighs. "Like hell I'm delivering muffins for free."

"Isn't he at some summer program thing?" Lance said as he got up from the couch, propping his bass up next to him. "Ronnie told me all about it before break, says she's gonna be stuck at uni all summer."

"Yup. Matt's stuck there too." Pidge replied, grinning. "So if he really wants these muffins, he'll have to pay me for them."

"Isn't that extortion?" Lance picked at a muffin, breaking it into smaller pieces. "Or something equally illegal?"

"Not really, depending on how you look at it." Pidge shrugged, going back to their editing. They sniffed the air once, turning to Hunk. "I'm smelling cooked muffins, buddy."

Hunk darted towards the kitchen, leaving Lance and Pidge to giggle at him. They settled into comfortable silence, the sound of Pidge clicking away on their mouse turning into familiar background noise. Lance took his time with his muffin, pulling out his phone to scroll through Twitter in between bites. He scrolled aimlessly, not really registering what he was liking or retweeting, just looking for something to occupy his hands.

One tweet caught his attention, and he barely stopped himself from inhaling his muffin. Pidge eyed him suspiciously as he dropped his phone, coughing into one hand as the other thumped his chest.

Pidge raised an eyebrow at him. "You okay?"

"P-Peachy!" Lance squeaked, coughs subsiding. "Hunk, buddy, really shouldn't be putting such big chunks into your muffins you know!"

"What are you talking about, Lance?" Hunk popped his head over the counter, still crouched down in front of the oven. "There aren't any chunks in this muffin."

"Riiiight. No chunks. Right. M-Maybe it was just me?" Lance laughed awkwardly, reaching for his phone on the floor.

"Yeah, definitely just you." Pidge rolled their eyes, attention back on their laptop. Hunk shrugged, going back to watching the oven.

Lance sighed, relieved to have his friends' attention off him. He glanced over at Pidge, making sure their headphones were on. Hunk was making noise in the kitchen, so Lance was sure he couldn't hear them. Unlocking his phone, he scrolled back up to the tweet he was looking for, smiling a little to himself when he found it.

Lance tapped on the link, leaning back against the couch. He waited for the video to load, quickly turning the volume down. The soft strumming of an acoustic guitar filtered out of his phone's speaker, followed by a man's smooth baritone voice humming. There wasn't much going on in the video, just a static shot angled on the man's hands strumming his guitar. A bit of his jaw peaked over the top, moving in time with the lyrics, showing that he was actually singing.

All of Red's videos were like this. Lance had gone through all his videos, accidentally finding his channel thanks to the Youtube algorithm, and none of them featured his face. He was disappointed at first, wanting to see if the beautiful voice had an equally beautiful face. But after subscribing for a few months, Lance finally understood.

Red wanted people to listen to his music, not look at his face.

Their videos were so different. Their trio - The Garrison - always had production value. Lance was a film major, he liked having all those high quality shots and experimental angles. Red's videos were much simpler, just him singing with his guitar, probably shot on a shitty webcam.

Lance loved them anyway.

They became his guilty pleasure, something he listened to when he studied for midterms or did his chores. He even went as far as to follow Red on Twitter, and after one drunken night last Spring break, taken to replying to his tweets. At first he was convinced Red thought he was creepy, but then the other started replying back, and Lance couldn't help but get excited about their little interactions.

Just last week Red followed him back, and Lance had to finally come clean about his crush on him.

Smiling to himself, Lance hummed to the tune of Red's song, something in the back of his mind telling him it sounded familiar. He was probably just so used to Red's voice that all his songs sounded familiar. It wasn't until the end of the video where Lance realized exactly what song he was singing.

Oh.

_ Oh. _

Lance's eyes flew open, unaware he'd even closed them in the first place. He'd been so excited for the new video he didn't even bother reading the title, just tapped the link and pressed play. He let out a groan, hand smacking his forehead, the sound catching both Hunk and Pidge off guard.

"Lance?" Hunk called out, camera in hand as he paused in the middle of his muffin close-ups. "Something wrong, buddy?"

Pidge propped their elbow on their thigh, leaning on their hand, pointing at Lance with the other. "Your hand left a mark."

Lance frowned, rubbing his palm across his forehead. Pidge and Hunk shared a look. Lance sighed loudly, flopping himself on the couch, holding his phone to his chest

"Can we, like, not upload the video?" Lance whined, waving his hand dramatically. "Can we shoot a new one instead? Cover a new song? Something that isn't this one?"

"Excuse me?" Pidge narrowed their eyes at him. "We spent, what, a whole day shooting? Two days editing? And you  _ don't  _ want to upload the video?!"

"Y-Yes?" Lance felt his face heat up. He turned, shoving his face against the couch cushions, dutifully ignoring the glare Pidge was leveling at him. "I mean it's not a big deal! We can just shoot a new one real quick! Apologize to all our subscribers for the delay, tell them something came up or whatever. I mean, it's not like they expect us to upload every weekend! Besides, this one wasn't so good anyway! It's the perfect opportunity to re-shoot and make it better! And-"

"Dude, breathe!"

Lance flinched, feeling Hunk's hand rub circles on his back. He relaxed, just a little, turning his head away from the cushions and risking a glance at Pidge. Their attention was back on their laptop, tongue sticking out in concentration as their fingers typed rapidly on their keyboard. Before Lance could continue rambling, Pidge started laughing.

"Oh my god!" They cackled, hands on their stomach. "Oh my fucking god!"

"Wha-What?!" Lance felt his insides squirm, his blush back full force. "What's so funny?!"

"I know why you don't wanna upload the video!" Pidge looked right at him, a smug grin stretching across their face.

"Huh?" Hunk looked confused, one hand still on Lance's back, eyes darting from Pidge to Lance. "What's the reason?"

"Don't!" Lance begged, shoving his face back into the cushions.

"Red sang the same fucking song!" Pidge cried triumphantly. "You don't want us to upload the video cause you're embarrassed your Youtube crush sang the same song!"

There was a beat of silence. Then Hunk started laughing, snatching his hand back as he fell off the couch. Lance made a dying noise, trying to suffocate himself with the couch cushions. Maybe he'll spend the night here on the couch, his face permanently glued to the cushions. They won't mind, right? They were already killing him right now. Might as well finish himself off.

"Aw c'mon Lance, stop being dramatic!" Hunk placated, patting his leg from where he sat on the floor. "You never know, he might watch the video."

"Or he could already be a subscriber." Pidge teased, walking over to poke at his side. "Maybe you've been flirting with him all this time and you never noticed."

"I hate you." Lance grumbled, lifting his head to give his two best friends a pout. "I hate both of you."

"Aw, Lancey, thought you loved me."

Lance knew hitting Pidge with a pillow was a risk. But at this point, it was a risk he was all too willing to take.

* * *

* * *

* * *

_ He knew his viewers couldn't see his face, that they wouldn't know how much performing scared him. Nonetheless, he kept his eyes closed as he sang the song. "And if you have a minute why don't we go..." He could feel his voice straining, but just barely, not enough for someone to tell the difference. "Talk about it somewhere only we know?" _

_ His hands moved on autopilot, having practiced the song for almost a week now, his fingers dancing on the fretboard. "This could be the end of everything," his smooth voice cooed, "so why don't we go somewhere only we know?" _

_ He hummed the last notes of the song, knowing that he could just edit it later, make it fade to nothing. He let the sound of the guitar wash over him, leaving him in a hazy daze of memories. When he finally stopped strumming, he felt his shoulders relax, the sweat on his forehead sliding down to his chin. Letting out a breath, he finally opened his eyes. _

* * *

"Are you  _ sure _ you can't make it? Even for a weekend?"

Keith Kogane sighed, leaning back against his shitty living room sofa. He had just come back from work, his thin green gas station polo sticking to him uncomfortably. They were in the middle of another heat wave, and he was looking forward to a decent cold shower. But apparently his stepbrother didn't get that memo, calling Keith just as he was about to head for the shower.

"Shiro, I  _ told _ you I was busy!" Keith ran a hand through his hair, making a face when he realized it was damp with sweat. "I picked up a couple shifts down at the garage. I'll be busy all summer."

"Extra shifts? Why are you picking up extra shifts?" Takashi Shirogane's voice filtered in from the other line. "Are you low on money? Do we need to send you some?"

"God, Shiro, no!" Keith grumbled. He didn't want to have this conversation. "Is Adam there? Can I talk to Adam?"

"Keith." Shiro's stern tone made Keith flinch. "I'm worried about you. You already have shifts at the gas station, and now you're taking more at that garage? You'll overwork yourself at this rate!"

Keith groaned, pulling the phone away from his ear as Shiro worked up a good lecture. Shiro had a point. Keith knew he did. But Keith hated the gas station, and the old man at the garage finally trusted him enough to give him more work. He loved the garage, and if he was patient enough, he could work there full time. No more teenagers trying to shoplift, or old drunk guys picking a fight.

Keith had a plan for himself.

Shiro just needed to see that.

"Keith? Keith! Are you even listening to me?"

"Yeah, yeah."

Keith was ready for another lecture. Maybe something about listening to concerned older brothers. But there was rustling on the other end, a couple muffled words, and what was probably the sound of the phone being passed over.

"Hey there Little Red."

Keith breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey, Adam."

"What's this I hear 'bout extra shifts?"

"Ugh."

"I'm not gonna lecture you, so you can stop with the angsty teenager act."

"I'm not an angsty teenager! I'm twenty two!"

"Mhmm..." Adam Wright hummed. Keith knew him enough to know he was probably rolling his eyes right now. "Look, Taka's glaring at me from across the counter, so please tell me you're not overworking yourself."

"I'm not overworking myself." Keith huffed. "The old man who runs the garage knows 'bout the gas station, so he's letting me choose my shifts."

"That's good. You planning on quitting the gas gig? I know you hate that shit."

Keith snorted. Adam never bothered to filter himself around him. "Yeah. Hopefully the old man trusts me enough to keep me full time. I'm keeping the gas thing 'til then."

"Right. Heard that Taka? Told you kid's got a plan." Keith could hear Shiro grumbling, belatedly realizing he was on speaker. "Ignore him. He's just sulking ‘cause I was right."

"I am  _ not _ sulking!"

"He totally is."

"Adam!"

Adam laughed, and Keith couldn't help but join him. Listening to them like this, it was almost like Keith was with them, sitting in the kitchen as Adam and Shiro moved about. Instead Keith was sitting on his shitty sofa in his shitty apartment, watching the sunlight filtering through his window slowly disappear into the horizon.

"Hey guys?" Keith interrupted, waiting till the voices died down. "Love listening to you bicker, but I really gotta go now."

"Visit us when you have the time, ok?" Shiro asked, voice concerned. "Capital's not that far. Drive by some time."

"I will." Keith smiled. "Promise."

"Don't forget to let me know before you upload a new video!" Adam's voice cut in. "I loved your last one. Listened to it in the car on the way to work."

"Adam, please don't tell me you make your coworkers listen to me."

"I don't  _ make _ them. Just give them links when they ask."

Keith groaned. He knew Adam was supportive, he just wasn't expecting him to be  _ that _ supportive.

"Hey! Not my fault I'm your number one stan."

"Stan?" Shiro's confused voice chimed in. "Don't you mean fan?"

"Oh  _ honey _ ..."

"Okay!" Keith chuckled. "I'm stopping you right there. I really need to take a shower."

"Remember to dry your hair properly."

"And eat dinner! Don't want to see you skinnier than you usually are, kid."

"I'm not a kid!" Keith felt his face heat up, embarrassed despite being alone. "Gotta go! Bye!"

"Love you!"

Keith hit 'End Call' with a smile, Shiro and Adam's voices still echoing in his head. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the familiar feeling of loneliness clawing at his gut, always hitting harder after phone calls from home.

_ Home. _

Keith sighed. He looked around his cheap studio apartment. The floor still creaked at every other step, and the walls still looked like they were painted with piss, but it was still better than when he found it a year ago. He had furniture now - some things from junk shops that he picked up, others handed to him from the old man's garage. It wasn't much, but it was something he made for himself. He was happy about that.

Standing up, he tossed his phone on to the couch, walking to his 'bedroom'. It was just a tiny single bed shoved into one corner, a computer desk with his guitar propped against it, and a red fabric closet sitting by the foot. He grabbed a shirt and a clean pair of boxers, threw them on the unmade bed, and stalked towards his shower.

* * *

After a cold shower and a dinner of cup noodles, Keith plopped down on his bed. Cicadas were already making noise from the tree next to his window, the sound echoing through his (mostly) quiet apartment. He had Youtube open, scrolling through some comments in lieu of something better to do.

Starting a Youtube channel wasn't part of his plan, but there was only so much he could do for fun out in the middle of a desert. The only buildings in his small town were a motel, his apartment building, a diner, and a small gas station. There was a bigger town up North that had fancy buildings and shops, but after spending a day wandering around, Keith thought the trip there wasn't worth it. The only other place worth hanging out in was the garage, working on his motorcycle 'til the old man kicked him out for the night.

His phone vibrated with a new notification, drawing him back from his wandering thoughts. He swiped his phone, expecting another Youtube notification, surprised to see that it was from Twitter instead. He tapped on the notification, watching as it loaded up his previous tweet, this time with a reply underneath.

Keith was familiar with Taylor, having seen him pop up here and there on his tweets. The first time he replied Keith thought he was being sarcastic. No person in their right mind would say "your voice is like melted butter and I just want to eat it" to him - especially not somewhere public like Twitter. Keith was beyond embarrassed, taking a screenshot and immediately sending it to Adam and Shiro.

They both laughed at him.

After being told that comments like those were normal (Adam) and that he should be more careful about what he puts up on the Internet (Shiro), Keith was determined to forget all about the incident.

But then Taylor kept commenting.

He wasn't as bold as his first reply, but Taylor's words had remained encouraging. Keith ended up replying back, and it became a regular thing between them. Keith even went as far as following him, but only after he looked through Taylor's profile to make sure he wasn't shady. They weren't on the level of Direct Messages yet, but only time could change that.

Stifling a yawn, Keith typed out a quick reply.

Satisfied with his reply, Keith went back to scrolling through Youtube comments. His eyelids felt heavier by the second, and he could no longer keep himself from yawning. Before he knew it, he fell asleep, his hand dropping his phone to rest on his chest.

**Author's Note:**

> Big thanks to [Ethan](https://twitter.com/art_of_kiko) and [Tod](https://twitter.com/DWreckoning) for being such good sports and BETA Reading for me. Nothing I do will ever be possible without their unending support. Go give them both some love!
> 
> Also, here's the [link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCHRBn2hoOk) to the song in Keith's Tweet. It's sung by a woman, but it had the general feel I was going for. ☺️ ☺️ ☺️ ~~I also left a couple of huge hints around so if y'all found them let me know!~~. Anyways, feel free to drop a comment or reach out to me. I love y'all! See ya next update!
> 
> **[Twitter](https://twitter.com/falling_rhayne)|[Tumblr](https://falling-rhayne.tumblr.com/)**


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